According to Mac Daily News those glossy plastic album cards that you see at the Starbucks counter (you know the ones, you’re wondering who KT Tunstall is so you pick it up, inspect the shiny little copy of her album cover, then put it back the second the cashier hands you your change) are actually doing quite well. These cards have debuted with great success at Starbucks retailers and Safeways around the country. So instead of giving someone an iTunes gift card, you’re essentially giving them a gift card that will buy them that specific album from iTunes. You know, it’s kind of like giving someone a cd without the physical jewel case, liner notes, and album pictures. The cards cost the exact same as the album price on iTunes itself, so why this is any better than the generic gift card, which gives someone the liberty to buy what they please, is beyond me. Maybe it’s just Apple’s way of coming up with yet another random product, like the square nano. And surprise, surprise they’re masters at marketing said products.
Billboard’s Ed Christman reports, “iTunes Vice President Eddie Cue said that Apple views the cards as ‘a way to leverage digital in the physical space.’ Conventional music merchants are open to the concept as well. ‘We would carry both the CD album and the card,’ one retail executive at a traditional chain said.”
Currently, KT Tunstall’s Drastic Fantastic and Eddie Vedder’s soundtrack to Into the Wild are available at 1,000 of the 1,600 Starbucks stores. You can also find album cards for popular artists such as Maroon 5, Nora Jones, and Kelly Clarkson at Safeway, a grocery chain that is apparently no longer satisfied with just selling groceries.
